Natural Mercury Sources in the Environment: Contribution of Siberia

Natural sources which accumulate mercury are discussed. Among natural suppliers of mercury into the atmosphere, degassation of the Earth’s crust (including mercury mineralization zone) and evaporation from oceans play a Key role. This paper concers natural sources of mercury in Siberia, to which Hg deposits, various Hg-containing deposits and rocks with high Hg contents due to the development of dispersion haloes are assigned. The Hg deposits are located in three ore regions over the territory of Siberia: Altai-Sayan, Transbaikalia and the Upper Yana-Kolyma regions. The estimated natural emmission of mercury due to the surface degassation is about 40 t/y.